"Kenneth" > wrote in message
...
....
>>Then nothing. After 12 hours there were no signs of bubbles. Mixed and
>>waited 12 hours more. Nothing. Waited another 24 hours. Nothing.
>>
>>What happened?

That's hard to say remotely, Kevin. As Kenneth pointed out, you've got to
watch your temperatures. In general some portion of the soup of critters
that comprise a SD culture don't do well as the temperature approaches 100F
and warmer. Room temp water s/b just fine.

While I would ALWAYS counsel that you use an established culture from
someone, if you must start one from scratch, I would start with Rye
flour...at least until you get it established. Use plain, unbleached, Rye
flour. Freshly ground, if you can get it, would be best. After you've got
it going you can convert 'em to whatever flour you like.

While I often do bake with both Rye and Whole Wheat, I always make and
maintain my culture with ordinary, white, bread flour. That way I have more
flexibility to make different things. I find that I don't like WW or Rye in
my Pita's or Focaccias, for instance. YM(and tastes)MV...


HTH,
Dusty
San Jose, Ca.
--
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>>
>>- Kevin Cheek
>
> Hi Kevin,
>
> First... How warm was the water?
>
> Second... What do you know about the flour? If, for example,
> it had been sterilized along the way, you are likely to get
> nothing of value growing.
>
> Next... Often at the outset, there seems to be vigorous
> activity because of critters that are not those we want in a
> starter. They come to life, give us hope, then die off.
>
> I would suggest that you continue (with a caution about the
> temperature of the water) for another five days or so.
>
> HTH,
>
> --
> Kenneth
>
> If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."